Slenderman's Loving Arms
by BloodyDreamscape
Summary: Lily couldn't count how many times she had run away from her abusive foster father, each time to a different place. When she ends up fleeing to the woods at the edge of town, she finds something that will change her life and show her exactly why she was born. Rated m for some swearing and violence. Might change as I go further into the story.
1. The Runaway

Lily's POV

I angrily stomped up the stairs. My dad was such a jerk. He had told me that I was being immature. _Me? Immature? I don't think so, bub._ I shoved my clothing into a small bag, grabbed a flashlight and my tent-in-a-bag and headed downstairs. As I was walking I made a quick call to my cousin, asking if he would pick me up and let me crash at his place, but he told me he couldn't help, due to apparently having food poisoning. I knew it probably wasn't that. My cousin was a classic man-whore. Who knows what it really was, but I didn't argue.

I stopped for a second, having forgotten why I went into the kitchen. _Oh, _I thought. _Duh._

I raided the kitchen, listing off some supplies I needed in my head. _Water, check. Food, check. Matches, check... _I left the kitchen, but I remembered something, and ran back in. _I can't believe I almost forgot my cooking kit._ I snapped one of the hair-ties I keep on my wrists, as I always do when I forget something stupid.

I walked quickly to the door, hoping my dad wouldn't hear me and try to intercept. I was too late.

"Just where the hell do you think you're going?" he asked sarcastically.

"Where do you think, I'm going out with my friends." I replied, resisting the urge to stab him with anything in reach, which just so happened to be lucky enough to be a sword that he kept on display, for god knows what reason.

"You don't have any friends," he said nonchalantly, "besides, even if you did, you wouldn't go out with a tent and enough water bottles to choke and elephant."

"Why do you care? All you do is drink beer and watch NASCAR, that or hang around in a bar trying to pick up girls half your age." I muttered under my breath, I knew he could hear me, but I really didn't care. My "father" had pissed me off from the time I first met him, eight years ago, at that point. Back then I was six years old, and probably the nicest girl you would ever meet. This guy changed that big time. I had become that weird Goth chick who sits on the roofs of local buildings and reads horror stories.

"What did you just say to me?" I heard him raising his voice, but I still didn't care. I knew that if he did anything, I could hit him back, just as hard. His hand came up, and I waited for the blow. I got what I expected.

Almost.

I expected it to hurt. It didn't. Probably because I had gotten used to it. I dodged the next hit and slammed my knee forwards, aiming for the most sensitive part of his body, and hitting it perfectly. I took my chance to run out the door and hopped on my bike, speeding out. I pumped my legs as fast as I could until I got tired, then I stopped to catch my breath. _Come on,_ I told myself. _He's probably right on your heels!_

I pedaled to the forest on the outskirts of town and wiped the sweat off of my neck. I had always run to a different spot when I ran away, and this time was no different. It was my first time going into the forest out here, and I was a bit worried. Last summer, my only friend came here on a dare, and he ended up disappearing. A few days later, he arrived at my house covered in blood, and told me something. I still remember it as if it had just happened.

"The tall one is there, in the forest, the tall one is there." When I asked him who this "Tall One" was, he just started yelling at me in Spanish. After yelling for a few seconds he freaked out and ran away. I found his body the very next day, scrunched into my locker. The investigation lasted for four months, but nothing came of it.

I told myself to calm down, took a deep breath, and began to climb the chain link fence.


	2. A Meeting

Lily's POV

My boots thumped on the ground ominously. I took out my flashlight and shook it. It was one of those flashlights that charges when you shake it. I turned it on and had to blink from how bright it was. I rubbed my eyes a bit and when I opened them, I was a bit shocked. I looked forward to see a white oval, about ten feet off of the ground, in between a pair of gnarled trees, and then it disappeared. _Did I just see that? _I decided that it had only been spots from the light.

I gave my flashlight another good shake, and then I set off to find a good place to make camp. I came across a small area, surrounded by bare trees. I started to set up camp and I came across a piece of paper crumpled on the ground. When I unfolded it, I gasped.

It had my name. It had my name, Lilium and it had a poem written on it.

_Slender, Slender_

_Long life ender_

_Arms so long and legs so lithe_

_With tentacles just like a scythe_

_Coming for you, in the night_

_Coming for you, out of sight._

I gasped and dropped the paper, stepping away from it. _How did they know my name? _I couldn't stay in this area, so I moved somewhere else and set up camp. I kept thinking about the poem, I knew that handwriting, but I couldn't remember whose it was. I laughed at myself. _It can't really be something all that serious; maybe someone just happened to use a random word… in Latin… that just happened to be my name. It is just a strange coincidence!_

I tried to shrug it off. Very few people besides my foster father and my old friend even knew my real name. I always went by the name Lily.

_Lilium…_

I froze. _Now I know I'm going crazy, I just heard his voice._

I closed my eyes and turned around. I carefully called out my old friend's name, not really expecting anything. I felt a small breeze go across my face. _Someone is here… I can feel it, but whom?_

I gulped. That handwriting… and he was the only one who knew my name… It was Marco! I turned and ran as fast as I could, all the time thinking that it couldn't be him, it just couldn't. I was the one who found his body! I knew exactly what had happened to him! It was plastered all over the news, "19 year old kills self in boys' bathroom at local high school".

I tripped over a root and fell down hard. When I tried moving my legs, I felt a searing pain slice through my left ankle. I turned to see what had happened, and I saw my ankle twisted part of the way around. I gingerly moved my leg around to where I could reach it, and examined my ankle closer. I had only sprained it, but it still hurt like hell. I tried moving it again and discovered that I could move it, if I wanted to walk; however, I needed extra support. I shuffled around and found a long, sturdy branch.

_Perfect, _I thought, _I can use this as a cane. _I started moving back to where I had been setting up camp. Whoever, or whatever it was, was probably gone now. Besides, it was probably just an owl, and the paper was probably from last year. Everybody knew Marco was on the strange side; otherwise he wouldn't have been friends with me. "Vatican girl, Pope Girl, Benedict Miss" The nicknames were endless.

When I reached my campsite, I finished setting up the tent and went to sleep. My dreams consisted of what they usually did.

_A Street without light posts, but it was still lit, the pavement seeming to glow with a reddish light. I ran along it, from what I know not. I came to an intersection, one way completely black and empty, the other lit with people running around. I went the lit way, afraid of the blackness on the other side, but when I reached the edge of the light, I fell through a sinkhole._

I woke up with a jerk, and immediately yelped in pain. My ankle felt like someone had kicked it with the force of a jet. I crawled out of my tent with my eyes closed, so that the light wouldn't hurt my eyes. I slowly opened them, but all I saw was blackness.

But… the blackness had a texture, like cloth, but it was covering my entire field of vision. I closed my eyes, and waited a few seconds to open them, ready for anything.

Almost anything, because what I saw terrified me. A man, a very tall man. About ten feet, to be exact. I resisted the urge to scream. _He, no… It has no face. _I grabbed my stick cane and put it up as a shield. The figure took a step towards met, not about a foot away, and leaned down to where his "face" was level with mine. Then, his skin ripped and transformed into a sinister grin. I screamed and tried to push it back, but it grabbed my hands and held me firmly in place. I struggled, but it was too strong, and I soon gave up. I tried to calm myself down enough to ask it what it was, but all I could say was, "What are-"before I passed out.


	3. Confusion and Questions

_**My sincerest apologies for not updating in so long. I have had a severe case of writer's block as well as a case of pneumonia and have only recovered from both in these past two days.**_

When I came to I was back in my tent. _Was it a dream? _I wondered if it was or not, until I saw my wrists, or rather, the bruises on them. I looked down at my ankle, and saw that it was completely healed. _That's strange, my ankle healed all the way, which would take weeks, but the bruises are fresh_. I was hungry, and my throat felt like I had been gargling cinnamon pop-rocks and flames, as usual.I heard a rustling noise, and burrowed myself into my blanket, trying to stay hidden. I held my breath, and shielded my head with my arms. I closed my eyes._ Please be a bunny or a deer or something._

The blanket flew off of my body, leaving me exposed and unprotected. A hand grabbed my hair, and another grabbed both of my arms. I was pulled up and moved out of the tent. The creature set me down on something and let go of me. I kept my eyes closed and pulled my legs up to my chin. Something told me to keep my eyes closed, whatever I did. A slight, echoing chuckle came from just above my left shoulder, causing me to flinch. Whatever it was seemed to enjoy my fear. I decided that I would stop giving it what it wanted. I rearranged myself into a normal sitting position, and faced where the noise was coming from. I looked straight into the face of the creature that was preying on me.

Its grin was still firmly attached to its face, and I heard a small voice in the back of my head. _This creature is a monster…_ I swallowed my fear, squared my jaw, and said as impressively as possible, "Are you going to keep grinning at me like a jackass, or are you going to tell me what the hell you want with me?"

Slenderman's POV

I looked at the huntress in shock. Did she not recognize me? She must have, we had been battling for over a century. I had not seen her in a few years; I had assumed she was arranging an attack on me, as I had been with her. I closed my grinning mouth and re opened it in the form which makes it easiest to speak out loud. I could not read her mind nor speak to her within it, so I had to speak out loud to her.

"**Do you not recognize me, huntress? I would think that, even after fourteen years, you would recognize the one whom you had sworn as your enemy"**

The huntress seemed genuinely confused, as though she had never seen me before in her life.

"I think you have me confused with someone else, I don't know what you are, and I don't know who this "huntress" of yours is. All I know is I came here to escape my asshole of a foster father, and ran into you."

It was my turn to be confused.

"**Your name is Lilium, is it not?"**

She nodded yes, and I closed my mouth, contemplating the situation. She had to be the same person. I looked her over again, to make sure she looked the same. I only then noticed how much younger she appeared. I sniffed her hair, earning a shocked look from the huntress before she quickly composed herself again. Something was off. She smelled slightly different, barely enough to notice. Suddenly it snapped in my head. I re opened my mouth to ask her:

"**Were you named for your mother?"**

She seemed to become angry at my inquiry, grimacing before growling out, "How the hell am I supposed to know? All I know is that my mother died giving birth to me and I ended up living in the Vatican until I was two, then moving in with some American jackass after an incident in the orphanage I was living in. No one even knows who my father was!"

I took a step back, trying to figure out whether my conclusion coincided with the facts I had been given. I decided that the evidence was sufficient to confirm my theory. I finally spoke to her.

"**I believe I know what is going on."**


	4. Explanations

Lily's POV

I looked up at this creature in disbelief. He had just finished describing his conclusion to me. "You think that this 'huntress' of yours is my mother? And that I am a half vampire?"

"**Yes, I believe that you are a Dhampyr, A creature born of a vampire and a human. The huntress is most likely your mother, the vampire side, and you were named for her. She had marked me as her enemy, and fought me every few years. When I last fought her, she seemed to concentrate more on defending herself than actually harming me. I believe this is because she was pregnant with you. The reason you have both a vampire's and a human's scent on you is because you are both."**

"Wait, if she marked you as her enemy, then why haven't you killed me? I assume she was also your enemy." I asked, both wanting and not wanting an answer.

"**I have kept you alive for two reasons. One, you are innocent of trying to hurt anyone who did not deserve it. Two, I had no reason to kill her. Each time we fought, she was the one who started the fight. I do not know why she marked me as her enemy."**

I contemplated this, deciding that I believed him. "How did you come to the conclusion that she was my mother?"

"**That is simple. You are very similar to her physically. The only difference that is plain in your appearance is that you are younger than she was. You also are not as strong as her, if she was the one struggling against me, she could have broken free, whereas you did not."**

I sat there for a few minutes, mulling over what he said to me. I wondered aloud, "Where will I go to get away from my foster father? I refuse to keep living with him, and I still need to get everything of mine from there if I find a place to go."

"**You could stay here, with me"**

I looked up in shock, and jumped backwards when I realized just how close the creature had gotten to me. He moved closer, if that was possible, to the point where, if he had a nose, it would be brushing against mine, seemingly raising a nonexistent eyebrow at me questioningly.

"I still need to get everything of mine from there," I repeated, still trying to compose myself from the sudden closeness.

"**I can get it without him noticing"**

"Why do you want me to stay with you? All I am is some Dhampyr who happens to be the supposed daughter of this "huntress"; you needn't be interested in me."

"**You intrigue me. I have never met someone who did not try to run away from me or kill me on sight. You only struggled after I grabbed you. I know you felt fear, but you stood your ground. And I…" **he leaned closer to where his head brushed against my bangs, **"find that **_**incredibly**_** interesting."**

Slenderman's POV

I stood up straight, away from the girl, and faced away. I wanted to be careful not to scare the girl too much, she might suddenly show her powers as a Dhampyr, and harm me accidentally. I could sense her mind well enough to know that she was afraid, but she was definitely powerful, and could definitely hurt me, possibly even kill me. I turned my head to face her, and saw her thinking something over. Suddenly, she spoke.

"You say you can get all of my things without him noticing? I want you to do it." She stood up, "I will stay with you, until I find somewhere else to go."

I disappeared into her house and quickly packed all of her belongings into my small pocket dimension, occasionally getting distracted by a few curious things she owned, still finishing my job within five minutes. When done, I reappeared directly in front of her. I held out my hand for her to take. She hesitantly took it and we slipped away to a small cabin in the same forest.

Lily's POV

I doubled over once we arrived, trying not to throw up. I felt his hand pull my hair away from my face, and saw a bucket under me. When I finished, I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, and I felt his hand come off of my hair. I shuddered, just then noticing how warm his skin was compared to the icy cabin. I straightened out and looked up at the tall man, who seemed to be considering this odd situation. I became lost in thought, wondering things like when I would be leaving, where I would be sleeping, and then, things involving this creature who had yet to tell me exactly who and what he was. As if reading my mind, even though I thought in Latin, he snapped out of his thoughts and told me exactly what I wanted to know.

"**My name is Slenderman, but if you find a shorter version of my name that is reasonable, I will allow you to call me that. I am a being from a different dimension. Do you have a shorter form of your name that you would like to be called, or shall I call you Lilium?"**

I considered for a moment, trying to decide if I wanted Slenderman to call me Lily, as it seemed that he was a more formal person.I decided that I would have him call me by one of my two nicknames.

"Most people call me Lily, but my friend called me Li. You can too, if you wish, but I do not prefer either one."

He nodded, and a sudden wave of fatigue flushed through my body. Everything went black and I collapsed, completely numb to the long, white hands which caught me and carried me to the bedroom upstairs.


	5. Author's notes 1

_**Author's note:**_

_**I have decided on four possible storylines, and I will decide which one to write from popular demand. The others might be incorporated into a later story. Please send reviews on whether you want me to introduce other Creepypasta characters, add the other Slender beings, introduce just Jeff the Killer, or keep going with just the main characters already established.**_

_**I will also be publishing new chapters once every few days if possible, possibly every day, although it is unlikely.**_


	6. A Day of Thinking

_Author's note_

_This is the very first fan fiction I have ever written, so I have been worried that it is no good. I thank you for your opinions and reviews. I also apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors as I only just learned English within these past few years. Anyway, enjoy the filler chapter!_

Lily's POV

I ran through the woods, darting under low hanging branches as I went. It had been exactly two weeks since I agreed to stay in the woods with Slenderman, although I had been in the woods before then for three days, according to Slenderman. I came across a creek, with small boulders dotting the clearing around it. Looking around, I walked towards the slowly flowing water. My feet shuffled through the slightly squishy mud as I walked into the creek, making odd squelching sounds. I had never seen this area of the forest, since today was the first day that I was able to explore, the first few days being getting used to living in the cabin with the Slenderman. As I pondered for a shorter name for him, I took no notice to the slight sucking sound coming from the mud under my boots.

Before I knew it, I was sinking into the creek's bed, trying to pull my feet out and failing miserably. I decided that I would pull my feet out of my boots and try to pull the boots themselves out of the mud that seemed to be solidifying around them. _Lucky that I wore boots and not sandals, _I thought to myself, _that would be horrible_.

I slipped my feet out of the boots and socks and onto the solid rocks in the creek, making sure I didn't get myself stuck in as well. I grabbed the edges of the boots, and pulled up, hard. I felt the boots slowly moving upwards, out of the muddy ground below. As soon as they came free, Newton's Third Law of Motion came into play. I couldn't catch myself as I fell into the creek below me.

_SPLAT!_

I climbed out of the creek, my entire front covered in mud. I wiped my face clean and shook the mud off of my hands. I examined my hair, seeing that it was completely covered in the black mud. _And now I look like a cartoon character, great. At least the mud is the same colour as my clothing. _I meandered back to the cabin, wondering what Slenderman's reaction would be to my odd appearance.

When I got back, I knocked on the door, as I did not have a key to the cabin. The door opened slowly, and the tall man stood there silently. I grinned sheepishly.

"**You have mud on you."**

"I fell in the creek."

"**You should have been more careful."**

"I was getting my boots out."

"**Why were your boots in the creek?"**

"I got stuck in it."

"**How did you get stuck in the creek?"**

"I was standing in it."

"**Why were you standing in the creek?"**

"I was thinking, and ended up walking into it."

"**I see. Come in and wash yourself off."**

I moved through the cabin as fast as I could, in order to not get any mud anywhere. I undressed and put my mud stained clothing in the sink to wash out after my shower, running it under hot, soapy water. I ran the shower as hot as the water would go, and stepped under the steaming stream of water. I washed off all of the mud in a daze, not really thinking about anything. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep with my head against the wall.

"**Are you all right?"**

My head snapped up when I heard the voice, wondering what had happened, and why Slenderman was asking something like that when I was in the shower. I saw his silhouette on the curtain and a wave of mortification overtook me. I banged my head against the wall in embarrassment. Slenderman obviously heard the noise and his shadow got bigger on the curtain, leaning closer to the shower.

"**Are you all right?" **He asked me again, and this time I responded.

"I'm fine, I must have fallen asleep. I haven't slept in a few days." I stuck my head and shoulders out of the shower, reaching for the towel. He handed it to me and went to walk out, pausing to turn back towards me.

"**We are running low on food and other supplies. I cannot go into the town to buy them, but if you did you would be recognized. Do you have any problem in changing your appearance?"**

I considered for a moment, trying to think as to what I could do that would change my appearance without damaging me. "I can cover my hair long enough to buy myself some hair dye and different clothing, then I can just go out to the town in disguise. I will do that tomorrow, after I get some sleep," I told him. I knew that my face might be recognized, but I always wore heavy makeup, all I had to do was change the way I did it and I would not be much of a problem. Slenderman walked out of the bathroom, closing the door as he went. I turned off the now cold water and dried off my legs before stepping out of the shower stall. I noticed that my clothing from earlier had been removed from the sink and the sink washed out, probably on the clothesline. I wrapped the towel around me and faced the mirror, examining myself. I looked different from the way I was when I arrived here. My bright, naturally red hair had gotten a bit longer, as it grew quite quickly, down to my knees. My eyes that were a stunning blue colour when I was still living in town had taken on a slightly more violet appearance, becoming slightly redder every day. My skin had become paler, and my fingernails longer. Slenderman had told me that Dhampyrs came of age at about fifteen, their eyes taking on a slight red tint, adding to the original shade. Those that were female's hair grew longer in that time and occasionally changing colour, although mine hadn't. Their flesh became stronger and healed faster, without scars. He also told me that I would need to feed on human blood by my fifteenth birthday three days, or I would be incredibly weak for the rest of my life I harrumphed, there was absolutely no way that I would drink the blood of a human. Apparently, Dhampyrs and Vampires were immortal, able to live forever, but still able to be killed, although it took more damage. Apparently, Vampires were in fact affected by the sunlight, but only in that they sunburned easily. Dhampyrs were not affected by the sun any more than a human.

I ran a brush through my still soaked hair, and switched the towel with my robe, wrapping the towel around my hair. I quickly walked to the room that had been set aside for me. When I got to the room, I switched into my pajamas and unwrapped the towel from my hair, now damp. I threw the towel and robe into the basket I set aside for laundry. I braided my hair and climbed into the bed, waiting for sleep to take me once again.

My dreams were filled with shadows.

_I was standing in an empty room, the only light coming from a slit in a metal door. I was wearing a white dress made of what appeared to be cotton. I tried to open the door, but the padded thing would not budge. I ran around the room, looking to find something to help me open the door. As I was crouched down in the corner of the room, the door opened. I turned myself to look around at who opened the door, my hair crossing in front of my face, blocking my view. When my hair settled, I jumped, seeing a woman's silhouette standing in front of me. She was about five inches taller than me, with red hair cut at chin length. I asked her what her name was, and she simply grinned at me. She leaned in closer, and whispered something into my ear: "__Eodem__ nomine, __eodem__ sanguine, __eadem__fata__." The woman grinned and then disappeared into a giant puddle of blood, completely covering me in the red liquid._

I woke up screaming and tangled in bed sheets, with Slenderman looming over the foot of the bed, expressionless. I untangled myself from the bed and stomped out of the room, down to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water, my throat burning. I took a large gulp of the water and immediately spit it out into the sink. _This tastes horrible! _I tried to take another drink, but was stopped short when I turned to see the Slenderman standing inches away from me with his blank face practically touching mine. My glass smashed to the ground and I jumped backwards, ramming my waist straight into the sink. **"You know that the thirst will only get worse and worse, and you know the only thing that will help is to feed on a human. Why do you refuse to drink the blood?"**

I slipped past him and grabbed the broom from the utility closet. "I never asked to be this way, the only thing that I have ever wanted to do was live my life in a nice, secluded place with a few friends, maybe even a lover, in peace. I never wanted to find out that I am some sort of freaky half vampire that needs to eat people to survive!"

He seemed a bit taken aback by my irritated tone, stepping backwards so that I could clean up the mess I had made. If he was offended by my statement, however, he didn't show it. I finished cleaning up my mess and went back to my room, staying up for the rest of the night, and reading.


	7. An Encounter

_**Author's note**_

_**I have decided which storyline to go with! You will see in this chapter and the next!**_

I read until about 10 in the morning, simply waiting for the time when the local stores would open. I grudgingly got up and got dressed in a black hooded sweater and a pair of black pants. I went to the bathroom to put on some makeup. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, examining my strange eyes. Even after two weeks, they still made me a bit uneasy. I was used to the skin; I had always been very pale. My hair was still in the neat braid from last night, aside from a few stray hairs. I sighed and rebraided it, pulling it up under my hood. I finished putting on my makeup and set out to go to town. I didn't know exactly how far it was, all I knew was that it was directly northwards from here. When I arrived at the fence, I climbed up to the top. I attempted to jump down, but got my sleeve stuck on the top, ripping it. I pulled myself back up onto the fence and pulled it back off, jumping down.

When I got into town, I pulled my hood up farther around my face and set out for the local store. My shoes clomped on the sidewalk as I trudged around from shop to shop, buying different clothing and a few different colours of makeup. I walked to the hair dye aisle and contemplated what color I was going to die my hair. I remembered back to last night, when I saw my hair covered in the black mud with bits of my red sticking through. I decided to go with a black with blue tint in it as well as some stripes of red in it. I had dyed my hair before once, a nice purple color, but I grew tired of the purple and stripped the color off. I grabbed the boxes I needed and headed over to the counter with my things.

The man at the counter counted my money lazily. Not paying attention to what he was doing, the man gave me my bags without giving me my change first. I narrowed my eyes at him, waiting, and he simply asked me why I was staring at him.

"You forgot my change, I would like it please," I said with a bit of a growl in my voice.

"I am sorry, but I cannot give you what is left of your change, your change is 15 dollars, but I only have another twenty." He explained. I could tell that he was not sorry.

"So give me the twenty, and I will give you a five. I don't think it is that hard to figure out." The growl in my voice was stronger now, appearing to scare the man a bit.

He grabbed the twenty and handed it to me, receiving a five in its place. I walked out of the store with my bags and down one of the alleys. The sky had gotten dark. I looked at the moon; it must have been about 10:00. _Glad I know the alleyways from the last times I ran out._ I hurried down the alleyway. I knew that I still had a chance of being recognized.

A loud voice rang out down the alley.

"How the hell did they -hic- think they could kick us out of the-hic- bar? I am perfectly-hic- fine." One voice sounded both angry and hammered. The other was pretty much the same; "Shut up Billy you know you are drunk, let's just go home and get out our beer." The man agreed quickly. "Yeah, you're-hic- right, John, let's just-hic- go back there."

I stopped dead in my tracks. _They are coming down this alley, very drunk, and they are about to see me! _I went to run down the alley, but not before the first one, Billy, saw me.

"Hey there, little-hic- lady, you wanna come-hic- with us? We need a little-hic- Company."

"I think not, I have to get home, it's rather late at night, and I don't want to be out much later," I replied calmly.

"Come on now, you don't think we will take care of you? I will take great care of you."

"Somehow, I don't think that taking care of me is what you had in mind."

The first man grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and brought me up to his face. His breath smelled like cheap whiskey and beer. I glared at him, ready to fight him, when a voice called out.

"Are these guys bothering you?" The voice was male, sounded to be about 18 years old. I got myself out of the man's grasp and turned towards the voice, seeing a boy in a white hooded sweatshirt and black pants. I couldn't see his face, but I could see rather long black hair.

"Not enough for me to need any help, I can handle this," I replied, the way I was going to "handle" it burned in my mind, and in my throat. These guys weren't innocent, I could tell.

"I can see that, it's not like it's two against one, both of them twice as big as you."

As he finished saying that, the first man grabbed me by the waist and neck, pulling me close to him. He placed a kiss on my cheek, earning a concerned look on his friend's face. I thought I saw the boy pull something shiny out of his pocket, but I didn't pay attention.

"I don't think you quite understand," I said, feeling my teeth grow sharper," I really don't think you want to take me home tonight."

I grinned and turned around, grabbing the man by the throat and shoving him up against the wall. I heard a loud squishy noise, the sound of flesh ripping. I looked back to see the boy standing over the second man, pulling a kitchen knife out of his chest. The boy turned to face me. I turned back to the man, deciding whether I wanted to kill him, or run off and let him live. The boy would probably kill him as well either way.

I decided to run off. I didn't want this kid to see I was a Dhampyr, especially if he had no trouble killing people. I released the man in front of me and dashed as fast as I could down the alley, grabbing my bags as I went. I heard the sound of flesh cutting again, the man being killed. With my advanced hearing, I could hear the boy whisper something, but I did not hear what it was. As I jumped into another alley sometime later, I stopped to catch my breath. I leaned against the brick wall and listened to the sirens in the night, police responding to the bloody scene I had left behind, no doubt. I tensed up, wondering who the boy was, when I felt metal against my throat.  
"Go to sleep."


	8. The Agreement

Lily's POV

I stopped breathing, not wanting my throat to move as the boy had the knife pressed almost to the breaking point of my skin. _Why hasn't he killed me yet? _I didn't have time to wonder as the point blade raised and came back down on my throat, cutting my skin open. My blood spurted out of the wound, and I reached to cover the stabbed area of my throat. I saw red at the edges of my vision, the boy coming around in front of me. I gasped, seeing his face for the first time. He had half healed cuts on the corners of his mouth, shaped in a malicious and sadistic grin. He seemed to have no eyelids, looking as though they had been cut off and the wounds cauterised. I noticed his completely white skin, as pale as my own. He grinned, the slices on his face contorting and bleeding slightly. I felt my skin knitting back together. It felt slow, even though it was very quick compared to the healing of a human. My Dhampyr powers and traits had surfaced. The boy spoke again; "Go to sleep," in a slightly raspy voice.

His words sent me over the edge. My vision turned completely red, my hearing becoming slightly warped. I knew that a few seconds passed. I heard him yell in pain, feeling my mouth clamp around flesh. I hadn't bit down enough to break the skin, but I could tell it had startled him. I felt my hand around something that felt like a forearm to the side of my head. My vision cleared quickly to see that my assumption was right, I had the boy's forearm held in my mouth between my unsheathed fangs, with his body twisted around in front of me, me standing behind his back with one arm around his neck with him holding onto it and the other gripping his arm which was twisted behind him, held between my teeth. I felt the heat of his artery under the skin of his arm, and my throat burned. I fought between the three thoughts in my head, one saying to drink his blood to the point of his death, one saying to outright kill him, and the last saying to let him go. I decided something not either of the three. I projected a thought outwards towards him, as Slenderman had taught me I could do.

"Who are you?" My mind's voice sounded hollow and robotic, nothing like my true voice.

The boy stopped struggling against my superior strength for a moment. "Was that you?" I nodded yes in answer, moving his arm with my head to make sure I didn't accidentally cut it open with my fangs as I did so.

"My name is Jeffery, Jeff for short."

"Why did you try to kill me?"

He paused a moment, before telling me; "I don't really know. I have this urge to kill people, all the time. It's maddening."

I silently agreed, not letting that thought reach him. I contemplated as to whether I would continue to question him, or kill him outright.

"Why is your face carved up? Did you do it yourself?"

He coughed a bit, telling me that my grip around his neck was too tight. I loosened it, yet still held it firmly with my left arm. He answered me with a cautious tone. "I cut my face so that I would always smile, and cut off my eyelids so that I would never sleep."

His answer, for some reason, amused me. I let out a small mental laugh, and he tensed up. "I see you are just as sadistic as me. May I ask you a question now?"

I considered the risk of either option, letting and not letting him. On one hand, letting him ask would probably lead me to tell him about my heritage, but not letting him might anger him. I still considered him a risk. The arm I held had his knife in the hand of it. I tentatively agreed to allow him to ask.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" I thought. This wasn't at all what I expected him to ask. I realized I didn't know why I had not killed him. I took my arm out from around his neck. I let my guard down.

"I don't know either; I have every reason to, don't I?"

He answered my rhetorical question. "Well, I kill people for no apparent reason, and you were one of my intended victims, yet you somehow overpowered me, and now you have my arm in your teeth and my knife at your throat."

I cursed myself inwardly as I felt his knife touch my neck in the same place it had cut earlier. I smelled my blood; still staining the blade in a dark red, darker than human's blood. "It would seem we are at an impasse. I propose a deal. You put down your knife, I put down your arm, and we come to an arrangement. What say you?"

He said nothing as he dropped his knife and put his free arm at his side. I released his arm from my teeth, still holding it with one hand as I swung around in front of him and picked up his knife from the ground. I let go of his arm and stood in front of him.

Jeff's POV

The strange girl stood in front of me with her arms behind her back, the blade of my knife sticking out at her side from behind her. I noticed her eyes for the first time, slowly losing the red color they had taken on, turning to a purple color. She cleared her throat, waiting for me to speak.

I pulled my attention away from her eyes and looked at her whole face. She was a few years younger than me, about fourteen. I considered a few options for an agreement between us. I finally settled on an order of the options.

"The way I see it, we have three options. One, I kill you and run away. Two, you kill me and run away. Three, we find some way to work together to reach a common goal."

She thought for a moment before saying in a calm, clear voice; "I think that the working together would be best. I want to refrain from both killing, and being killed, as much as possible." I noticed the hint of an accent in her voice, European. I frowned a bit. She said she wanted to refrain from killing, and yet she nearly killed that man in the alley. I knew I was the reason she didn't, not that I was complaining. The sound of my knife slitting his throat had been music to my ears.

"If you didn't want to kill anyone, then why did you have the look of a killer in your eyes during our encounter with the alley cats over there?" My tone was both joking and serious. I saw her eyes widen a bit, but she went back to her emotionless expression quickly. She looked at the ground, and I could tell I hit a nerve. I didn't know what type until she spoke.

"I would rather not speak of that with someone I have only just met, much less one who has tried to kill me within the past few minutes." Her voice was still calm, but a touch of anger was hidden in it. I silently relished in the thought of making her angry, but I still didn't want to piss her off too much; this girl was definitely able to kill me just as easily as she could speak. I decided to try to let off a bit off her anger.

"Well, then, how about we find some way for us to get to know each other better? I'm willing to forgive and forget." I held out my hand for her to shake, but she seemed not to notice as she looked me straight in the eye.

"Forgive me for what? You were the one who tried to kill me, I see no reason for you to forgive me for anything, I did nothing wrong." She had gotten defensive, not something I wanted. My knife twitched in her grip.

"It's an expression. What I meant was that I wouldn't get into your business if you don't get into mine. All I want is not to have my insides ripped out by some angry chick in an alley. That and a warm meal and a place to sleep that isn't a dumpster."

Her eyes softened a bit at my joke as she looked back up at me. She obviously took it seriously. "Is that really the only place you have to sleep?"

"Yeah, but it's alright. I'm used to it." She looked hurt by my comment.

"I know what it's like. I've been there." She paused for a second, thinking. "I don't know if my host would allow it, but I might be able to get you a place to stay tonight…" her voice drifted off. She shook her head, muttering something in a language I couldn't understand. She looked back up at me, with an expression I couldn't read. She stepped forward until she was about half a foot away from me.

"Would you like to stay where I am staying, at least for the night? It is quiet; there is food, and a place to shower. We also have a few spare rooms that are available, one with a bed. I would have to ask my host, but if he took me in, I don't think he would have a problem with you." Her voice sounded like that of a person who was doing a bad thing, even though the words were those of a good deed.

"I don't think that's a bad idea. You say there is a place for a shower? I need one, badly. I probably smell like trash and blood." I laughed a bit. She laughed too, telling me that I smelled like burnt flesh and smoke as well. She handed me my knife and we set off in the direction she was facing, me behind her. Several types of thoughts filled my head, some violent, some not. All of them were about the girl walking in front of me.


	9. The Unseen Cabin

_**Author's note**_

_**I do not know Latin very well, so my translations between English and Latin might be a bit off. Also, remember that I only learned to speak and write English just recently.**_

Jeff's POV

I walked a step behind the girl who had spared my life on the grounds that I spared hers. My eyes traveled up and down the girl's body, noticing different things. Her sweater sleeve was ripped, not badly, but enough to get my attention. Her fingernails were long, but not overly so. Her skin was the same white color as mine, and from what I could tell, flawless. I hadn't been able to see her hair, but I got the feeling it was long. She was about a head shorter than me. I found this odd. Considering how old she looked, she should have been a bit shorter. She looked back at me a few times, and each time she did, I had my eyes toward the sky before she could see me looking her over. I didn't want her thinking I was a pervert as well as a murderer. Even I couldn't stoop that low. Especially not knowing her past or why she had apparently been in the position of sleeping in a dumpster.

I offered to hold her bags, and she gave me two, leaving her with the other two. Her laughter was accompanied by a smirk and a comment on about the irony of a serial killer offering one of his ex-victims the favor of carrying her groceries. I laughed as well, scratching my sliced cheek. Scratching it had become a habit and I was pretty sure that was part of why it hadn't healed completely yet. She turned back again to look at me. _Why does she keep doing that? It's obvious that she can hear me walking behind her._

She stopped at a high fence leading to the woods. She put the handles of her plastic bags in her mouth and began to climb the fence. She got the ripped sleeve of her sweater caught at the top, and I suddenly saw why it was ripped. She pulled it off and jumped onto the forest floor below, pulling the bag out of her mouth as she landed. I put my bags in my mouth as well and started to climb, being careful not to get my clothing stuck on the fence. I jumped down off the top of the fence.

I, however, didn't land gracefully as she did. I landed straight on my back, the wind getting knocked out of me. The girl half ran over to me, asking if I was okay. I said yes, and she let out a relieved sigh. She offered me a hand to help me up. I took it, a bit of shock must have crossed my face, because she looked confused.

"What is wrong?" Her question made me think. It was strange for me to be shocked; I was usually just a heartless killer.

"I'm just not used to people being concerned for me, that's all. Not many people have concern for a guy like me." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. She looked away and continued walking after handing me back the bags. She didn't look back at me for the rest of the walk, and she didn't talk either.

Lily's POV

We walked in silence for a bit. I kept thinking about what he had said. I wondered what he had meant by "a guy like me". When we reached the place the cabin was hidden, I knocked on the door. Jeff stood there, staring at my hand and the door I had just knocked on. _I forgot it was invisible_. I let the boy have his moment of confusion, and laughed in my mind. Slenderman opened the door, also invisible.

"**Who is this?" **I explained to him what had happened, leaving out the part where we tried to kill each other. The boy just looked at me like I was delirious.

"… So could he at least stay for the night?" I finished, with a slight pleading tone. Slenderman reluctantly agreed under the condition the he changed into less foul smelling clothing first. I turned towards the boy and told him to wait there. I walked into the cabin, disappearing from his sight. When I returned, I had a black pair of pants and a black long sleeved tee-shirt, which I handed to him. He looked at me, confused. I told him that my host had said he could stay there for the night, but he had to be in less "dumpster-y" clothing. I turned away as he changed clothing. When he was finished, I took his clothing and led him into the cabin. I went to the basement room with the washer in it and put the clothing into the wash. I set the washer and walked back upstairs to see Slenderman looming over a shocked Jeff. I didn't hear what he was saying to him, Slenderman usually spoke with his mind, if he even spoke. I didn't complain about his silence, I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't like my foster father rambling about like a fool, talking about beer and sports. I shook my head at the memory of him, I didn't want to be angry and thinking about that jackass was the last thing I wanted to be doing right now.

I cleared my throat in order to get their attention. "I will colour my hair tomorrow. Would you like me to show Jeff to his room?" My question was not answered with words, but with the Slenderman simply straightening up and walking away. Jeff walked over to me with a breathy laugh, the look of shock still on his face.

"He's quite, uh, intense, isn't he?" I laughed at Jeff's description of Slenderman.

"That he is. Here is the bathroom and there is a clean towel in the rack. The clean one is black." I turned away from him as he closed the door to the bathroom. I walked to my room and got started reading my book again. On the third chapter I had read, I began to get tired. At the start of the fifth, I had fallen asleep. My dream was of the street again.

Jeff's POV

1 hour time skip

I shook the screaming girl awake. My still damp hair was covering my face, making it hard for me to see. The girl woke up with a jerk and my head snapped to the side as she punched it with enough force to dislocate my jaw. I jumped back from the girl, holding my chin and wincing in pain.

"Deus dampnas sit, noli unquam, faciat quod iterum est!"She had woken up completely and yelled at me in some language I didn't understand.

"What? I can't understand you." I slid my chin back into place as I said this, with a loud popping sound.

"I said, "God damn it, do not ever do that again'," She told me, before walking over to me and examining my jaw. "Holy shit, how hard did I hit you?"

"Hard enough to dislocate my jaw. I fixed it though. Jeez, you should go into boxing!" I laughed at my bad joke, wincing in pain at both my injured jaw and the still open wounds on my face. I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't amused. Her eyes were a bit cloudy with sleep and her face was covered in drying tears I hadn't noticed. I felt a surge of unfamiliar emotions rush through me; fear, sadness, the need to protect the girl who was now examining my jaw and cheek. I would have closed my eyes if I could have, to keep from looking at her. The best I could do was look past her at the wall. Her voice startled me as I was lost in thought.

"Would you like me to stitch your cheeks?" I considered for a moment.

"Wouldn't you have to re open the cuts?" My voice didn't waver, even though I was a bit concerned with the thought of this girl re-slicing my face. She nodded slowly in agreement. I decided to allow her to stitch them; it was better than what I was going to do originally. I voiced this opinion, and she asked what my idea was. "Cauterization," I told her as calmly as I could. The thought was heavy in my mind. I had been cauterized before I carved myself. My nose used to bleed nearly every day, so my parents took me to a doctor. The process hurt like hell. When I cauterized myself, it hurt even worse than the nose.

We agreed that she would stitch my cheeks in the morning before I left.

Lily's POV

I went to take a shower and came back to find Jeff asleep in the chair. I couldn't tell that he was asleep at first due to his lack of eyelids, but I waved my hand in front of his face with no response. I climbed back into bed and tried to sleep, my dreams were nothing but blackness with a few red spots.


	10. A Day of Teasing and Helpfulness

_**Author commentary**_

_**I have found that I like writing in Jeff's POV. Perhaps this is because of his way of looking at the world. It is so similar to my own, just with the actual violence as opposed to my thoughts of violence that lay un-acted upon. Also, you may have noticed that Lily's thoughts are expressed more casually compared to her spoken words. There is a reason for that. Sort of filler chapter here, enjoy.**_

Lily's POV

I gripped the knife tightly, hesitating. Jeff sat in the chair beside me, waiting for me to either do this or not.

"The hell are you waiting for? Just cut the damn cheek. Or are you too chicken?" His slightly raspy voice made chicken sounds until my piercing violet eyes stopped him as I glared

Jeff simply laughed and said; "If you try and eat me, just make sure it's quick."

You know why I'm waiting. This has the possibility of morbidity plastered all over it." My words came out emotionless, although I intended for them to have a slight joking tone.

The night before, we had agreed for me to re-slice Jeff's face so that I could stitch them in exchange for him helping me dye my hair. The hand that held the knife went back up to Jeff's face. I took a breath, closed my eyes, and made the cut.

Immediately, my throat burned. The pain was excruciating to the point where I doubled over, whimpering. My birthday was the very next day, so if I wanted to survive properly, I had today and tomorrow to feed. Jeff held the wet towel I had given him to his face and leaned down to pull me back up. The look in his eyes was one of pain, and I could tell it wasn't from the cut. Over the night, there was a cycle of screams, shakes, and whispered words in the night. Over the course of eight hours, I had been roused from nightmares by Jeff fifteen times and we spoke to each other until we both fell back asleep each time.

I grabbed the glass of water I had gotten myself and chugged it down, trying to douse the raging fire within my esophagus. Jeff chuckled a little, and winced. I quickly refilled my glass and went back over to him for the next cheek. The process was the same with his left side as it was with his right. I had been surprised at the cold feeling of his skin that I hadn't noticed before in the alley.

I stitched his face carefully after making sure my cuts were along the same trail as his. He squirmed a bit in protest, each time earning something along the lines of; "Stop moving, it makes this harder than it is, and this is damn near impossible as is," or; "at least I didn't have to cauterize it."

When we were done, I ran up to the bathroom to wash the blood off my hands, then turned to see a silent, calm Slenderman standing in the doorway. **"Have you found a place for him to stay yet, besides here?"**His voice was in my head, and I responded out loud.

"No, we have not even been outside the house yet. We will look today after my hair has finished setting. I doubt we will find anywhere, though. He had looked through the entire town to find places to stay, without luck, and I am not going to have him wandering to another town." I dried off my hands and walked out of the room as impressively as possible. The previous night I had an internal war as to whether I would send Jeff out today or whether I would try to convince my host to allow him to stay longer. My voice seemed to make its own decision. I walked past the ever expressionless Slenderman and out to the main room. I made my way over to Jeff in the living room and asked him what he wanted to eat. The same look crossed his face as the one that it held last night; confused and shocked at the same time.

He simply said "I don't care," leaving me to my own devices to decide what to feed him. I settled on eggs, bacon, and a bit of buttered toast with a glass of milk. When I handed it to him, he simply took it and started eating. I walked back upstairs after telling him that I would be waiting for him to help me with my hair. I got everything, including myself, ready for the dying process. With my hair the way it was from my nature, I didn't need to worry about the dye damaging my hair, so I didn't need to wait extra days without shampooing it. I sat down on the chair I had set up in the bathroom with a towel in hand.

Jeff's POV

15 minute time skip

I finished eating and put my plate in the sink. Poking at my bandages, I walked up the stairs to the bathroom, grabbing the red and black hair dyes as I went. When I got to the bathroom, Lily, she had told me was her name, was sitting on a chair looking bored. She was holding a towel in one hand and a comb in the other. I poked her to get her attention. She flinched, snapping out of her daze. I could tell that she had to stop herself punching me again by the look on her face and her clenched fist.

"You a bit trigger happy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell you were stopping yourself from mangling my face more than it already is."

She muttered something I either couldn't hear clearly, or couldn't understand because of what language it was. I knew it had something to do with my face, which I was very sensitive about. I was self conscious of the fact that my face was sliced in a blind rage. _"You need to smile more, Jeff." _The words were still clear in my head, my mother had been yelling at me for getting into a fight at school. I covered my eyes, the best I could do since I couldn't close them properly.

I hadn't noticed that she had stood up until she pulled my hands from my eyes. She looked both irritated and sad at the same time. "Why do you have such an expression? Have I angered you?" Her voice sounded like she had just seen a dog being hit by a truck. I paused for a moment.

_Do I really want to tell this girl why?_

_Yes, you do._

_I can't tell her something like that._

_Why the hell not?_

_I would either chase her away, or she would coddle me, pity me._

_There is nothing wrong with a bit of pity._

I looked to the side, thinking. I finally decided to tell her at least the part that mattered at the moment. "I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to certain things. I got used to people telling me to smile more. I eventually had enough of people's shit and went loony. I'm sure you can understand."

She took her hands off of mine, stepping back. She seemed to think for a minute. "Well, if we are getting my hair dyed, we might as well get on with it. I will put in the stripes myself. If you don't know how to dye hair, the box has instructions." She swiftly wrapped the towel around herself before sitting on the chair. I grabbed the two boxes of black hair dye and pulled the instructions out of one, reading it carefully. I got started separating her hair into four different parts. She tensed up at my touch. I did my best to ignore it; I understood not being used to touching people. I finished separating her hair, holding it in place with pins. I started on the actual dying process, my fingers running through her hair. I silently marveled at how soft it was, and how long. We sat in silence as the brilliant red of her hair was turned into a deep black.

I was nearly finished with one side of her head when she said something. Not paying attention, I only heard a select few words; "Specific," and "Sensitive."

"Say what? I wasn't listening," I said, trying not to go to either of the two places my mind was leading. She was both too young and too nice. She made a slightly disappointed huff.

"I asked you what, specifically, are you sensitive about." She said.

"I got burned by both chemicals and fire. My face took most of the damage, but my skin turned completely white and my hair turned black. I used to have auburn hair." I kept working on Lily's hair, but my mind went back to that day when my parents helped me take off the bandages from the plastic surgeons. "You already know the rest." I focused back on what I was doing.

When I had finished the first side of her hair, I ran out of the first bottle's worth of the hair dye. "Damn, I need the next box, I'll be right back." I walked out of the room to get the next bottle. "Damn girls and their long hair, making things difficult on me." I walked back into the bathroom, seeing that the girl had an amused expression. "What?"

Lily just snickered. "You know I can hear you when you do that, right?" I mixed the hair dye in the bottle as I walked back behind her.

"I don't really give a crap if you can hear me or not." I started working the dye into the next side of her hair, moving slowly back around to in front of her.

"Yeah, but I have the advantage of being able to rip off a guy's head in one move, apparently." She looked up at me. "I really need something to drink."

I put as much of a shocked look on my face as I could, I moved my hand up to my throat as close as possible without covering myself in black goo, stepping backwards. Her eyes widened, turning almost blue. I grinned underneath my bandages, some blood coming out underneath them. She noticed this and looked away. We didn't speak again through the rest of the process.

_**Author note**_

_**I am sorry for the abrupt ending on this one. This part of the story is a mix between filler and plot, so I am trying to get through it quickly, but still thoroughly. I had to stop here or end up with a fifteen page chapter. The next chapter will be a short summary and continuation of this one.**_


	11. A Day of Teasing and Helpfulness Part 2

_**Author Note**_

_**Here be the next chapter. This one is the second part to the previous chapter.**_

Slenderman's POV

I leaned against the wall, out of sight from Lily and the grinning one. I could sense that Lily had formed a slight bond with the grinning one, which was strange to me since they only knew each other for the past day and a half. I turned my head to look at the grinning one as he came out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Lily's rinsing out the hair dye." He said nonchalantly.

"**I see. You seem to be fond of her." **I said. I knew that this boy was a murderer; Lily didn't have to tell me. I smelled it on him, the scent of death lingering even on his freshly washed clothing.

"She offered me a place to stay, I accepted. We happen to be in the same boat. That's it." He replied, although I could sense that he considered her more than just an ally.

"**You do not have anywhere to go, correct?" **The grinning one nodded. **"You may stay here until you can find one, if you wish."**

"Wait, what? Did you just say what you think you just said?"

"**That depends on what you thought I said. I was informing you that you may stay here if you wish." **The grinning one looked at me with something that I had to interpret as shock. The bandages on his face that already had a slice of red through them became filled with the boy's blood as he grinned intensely.

"Thanks, I'll tell Lily later." He began to walk down the hallway, but paused. "D'you mind if I call you Slendy?" He turned to look at me expectantly.

"**As you wish." **I nodded, standing up to my full height of nine feet, at the time. **"But I suggest you sustain yourself. Other than the house, I will not provide anything, besides perhaps money to purchase certain items for myself."**

He agreed, nodding quickly. **"You do remember what I told you? She will die one week from tomorrow if she does not feed by the end of that day. Her stubbornness and innocence are going to be the reason she dies. I cannot do anything about this, and so I leave it up to you. Your relationship with the girl is already better than my own."**

He nodded again and turned away, heading downstairs.

Time skip: 45 minutes

Lily's POV

I pulled the towel off of my hair slowly, standing in front of a full body mirror to see my hair when it fell out of the towel. Jeff was standing behind me, as was Slenderman, who Jeff told me to call Slendy. The towel fell off of my hair and my hair tumbled out, swaying a bit before settling around my legs behind my back.

A whistle suddenly hit my ears, and I looked at Jeff to see that it was him who had made the slightly annoying sound. I glared at him, reminding him just how sensitive my ears were to such sounds. He grinned again, the fresh bandages being stained with his blood. I looked away as fast as I could, not breathing. I didn't care if I stayed weak for the rest of my life, however long that may be, but I was not willing to feed on him, or practically anyone else, for that matter. I heard him shift around, his hand going up to cover the bandages. He walked over to me, standing to my left.

"I like it. The black goes well with your white skin. It kind of reminds me of myself." Jeff laughed at that, making sure he didn't grin again.

I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time, noticing that he was right, at least at first glance. The most notable difference between us, besides the slashes on his face, was our height. He was almost a foot taller than me. Both of us were milk white, with long, jet black hair. His dark, almost black, grey eyes and my violet eyes both contrasted against our skin in an odd way. Our hair was also different lengths, mine reaching my knees and his going down to his chest. I noticed that my face had a very, very slight blush on it and desperately hoped that neither of the two near me noticed. I knew that Slendy did, he just decided not to say anything. Big shock there. I didn't know if Jeff would notice, not knowing how perceptive he was, or how good his eyesight was.

I turned towards Slendy. "What do you think? I like it very much, but if you don't I can always strip the color. But then my hair would be almost white."

"**I am content with it; it serves our purpose for it. You said that you would put in these strips of color the day after tomorrow?"**

I nodded at this. My mind started to wander, wondering what I would do tomorrow. I was definitely not going to feed on anyone if I could help it. That one moment in the alley was something I struggled to forget. I had almost given in to my feral nature one time, just one time. I wondered what it would be like to be weak like that. Would I still feel the thirst? Would I be as strong as a human, or even weaker? Would my mind be ruined by some sort of vampire trait?

My mind wandered even further until the room filled with the sound of a stomach growling. Jeff looked down at his stomach, a surprised look on his face. I giggled a bit and covered my mouth with my fists. He glared about as much as someone without eyelids can glare, which is surprisingly quite scary. I turned away, prancing into the kitchen. I was trying to be happy. I knew that I was making the right choice by choosing not to feed. I found some food for Jeff and cooked it, bringing it to him when it was done. He was sitting at the table by the time I got it to him, resting his head on his fist just underneath his ear. I did my best not to look at the blood that was slowly seeping into the bandages from the pulling of his flesh that his position induced. I held my breath, handing him his food.

I watched Jeff eat the food with a touch of pride at my apparently exceptional cooking skills, amusement at the sheer hilarity of watching him scarf the hot eggs down as fast as he could, and a hint of sadness, at what I did not know. I suddenly had the urge to be alone. I leapt from the table and walked out the door as quickly as I could. As I left, I heard a muffled voice, still chewing on the eggs. "Where is she going? I should follow her. What do you mean stay put?! Fine!" This was accompanied by a series of noises.

I walked through the forest, admiring the beauty of the trees. My hair was tied back now, with a ribbon from the skirt I was wearing. My mind was on several different things at once. _Why do I not feel thirsty? What would happen if I don't feed? Of course, I would be weak for the remainder of my life, but how long was that? Slendy never told me. Why am I so attracted to Jeff's blood? Last time I checked, vampires preferred purer blood, not that of a killer. Granted, I am not a vampire. My blood isn't pure, so maybe I prefer tainted blood like my own? That was a stupid idea._

I sighed, sitting down on a large log. My jacket was starting to feel stuffy, so I took it off and hung it on a low branch of a tree. I closed my eyes and kept thinking. Soon enough, I was asleep. I fell sideways against the log.

_I was standing on top of a hill. The hill was covered in shimmering and bright grass and flowers, like something out of Alice in Wonderland. I looked around, feeling the thin dress wrapped around me dancing around my legs. I closed my eyes, enjoying the wind and the soft, gentle scent of roses and grass. I thought I heard a voice, but I ignored it. I kept my eyes closed, taking in the scents around me. I noticed that none of the scents were as strong as usual, and some were missing. Where was the scent of dewdrops? I had seen a few clouds, but I did not smell the scent of them. I shook it off, but then heard a hissing, angry voice just behind me._

"_Lilium!" The voice snarled, snapping me out of my daze. I spun around, my blonde hair whipping around in front of me. I saw a human figure through it, a girl. I stepped back, holding my hands up in defense. I couldn't see the girl very well. I saw that she hadn't moved, looking down at the ground in front of her. She had long, black hair, as long as mine and milk white skin. I stepped up to her, trying to look at her face beneath her jet black hair. Her head snapped up as I approached, making me gasp._

_**Author note**_

_**Oh, my, this chapter was longer than I expected. I had intended for it to be short, but as you can see, I did not succeed in doing this. There was simply too much to put in here. My apologies for this. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and sorry for the hanging cliff, as I believe you call it.**_


	12. IMPORTANT MESSAGE

_**IMPORTANT MESSAGE**_

_**I HAVE BROKEN FOUR OF MY FINGERS IN AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING A TELEVISION AND A FLIGHT OF STAIRS, AS WELL AS MOVING INTO A NEW HOUSE. I HAVE BROKEN THE MIDDLE THREE FINGERS IN MY RIGHT HAND AND MY SMALL FINGER ON MY LEFT.**_

_**THIS IS THE REASON I HAVE NOT UPDATED IN AWHILE, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME. I AM CURRENTLY TYPING WITH SPEECH RECOGNITION. SO i WILL TAKE LONGER TO WRITE CHAPTERS.**_


	13. The Choice

_**Author note**_

_**Yay, new chapter! We get to see who the girl in the dream was! When I set to writing this part of the story, I wanted to figure out how to get this "Person" into the story. Who is she? You will see.**_

_The girl's head snapped up, the hair floating gently in the wind. I gasped when I saw her face, or rather, my face. The girl was almost identical to me. The only difference was our eyes. Her eyes gleamed in a bright crimson. She walked towards me, and I could see where her feet had touched the grass from where it turned black._

"_Who are you?" I asked the question as calmly as possible. The girl grinned as if watching a funny movie._

"_My name is Umbra. I am a… new side of you, although I have been with you for your entire life. I am the crimson you see when you get angry, the burning in your throat, the red that tints your eyes purple."Her voice was just like my own, but slightly deeper._

"_You… you are the vampire in me?" I felt my eyes widen._

"_Precisely. I am the reason that you find yourself in this situation. You do not wish to feed." She said this as though it was a disgrace._

"_I do not." I glared up at her. She glared back with those bright red eyes._

"_So be it. You will die for your choices." She said, although she didn't seem to be threatening. I moved to protect myself if it was a threat, but she simply turned. "The faceless man did not tell you. If you do not feed tomorrow, you will die exactly a week afterwards. Even if you do not feed tomorrow, blood will not help afterwards. It will only prolong the process and make it more painful. You must feed, or we will both die. I would not care if it was only you, but that is because you are the human side, and I do not cherish life like our mother."_

"_Wait, I am the human side?" I looked at my blonde hair. "Is that why my hair is blonde? Wait, Lily, she is us put together. My name is Filia."_

"_Yes. The black of our mother's hair mixed with the blonde of our father's hair. It somehow became red." She stepped towards me._

"_If I am the human side, then why am I learning this from you? Why are you telling me this?" _

"_Because, for the moment, you are in control. But no longer, it is my turn. Say your prayers, Filia." She grinned, and grabbed my neck. Her long, claw like fingernail dug into my throat. "I have already started to take over."_

_I looked behind her, at where she had been standing before. The black places where her feet had touched the grass seemed to grow. When I looked closer, I saw that they actually were. The footprints grew and grew, taking up a large portion of the hill we stood on. The sky darkened from the light grey it was to a nearly black shade of red. The only portion of grass still green at this point was in a circle around my feet. I looked back to see the girl grinning maniacally._

"_You waste energy fighting back. I will defeat you, I am the stronger! You have no idea the power I hold! I will take over and you will be blamed!" She laughed an evil laughter. I clenched my jaw and struggled even more._

"_I have one request. I will allow you to take me over on one condition!" My voice was raspy and weak._

_She tilted her head in amusement. The motion seemed odd, comical. "What is it?"_

_I looked her straight in the eye. I knew that I would not survive against her any longer. "Do not take Jeff. I do not care if you take anyone else, but do not take Jeff." I waited, still kicking my legs a bit. I knew that when I stopped moving, she would take over._

"_What will become of me if I do? I am perfectly willing to take the pale one."_

"_I will suppress every bit of vampire blood in me to the point of becoming completely human."_

"_I understand. I give you my word that I will make sure no harm comes to him, with the best of my ability." I could hear in her voice and see in her eyes that her promise was going to be kept. "I will not, however, be responsible for any harm that comes to him that I could not prevent."_

_I nodded, my feet no longer kicking. As soon as I stopped moving, the black took over._

Umbra's POV

I shot straight out of the bed and to the door. I knew that the faceless one had brought me back to the cabin. I did not care. My throat burned harsher than ever before. I had always kept the girl from feeling it. My human side could not have handled it. The girl would have gone insane.

I reached to open the door, but my hand jerked back in agony as electricity arced across my hand. _A ward. Clever._

I slammed on the door with my fist. "Open this door, jackasses! I will break it down if you do not!"

"**You are unable to do so." **A calm voice rang out in my mind. I turned around to see the man without a face. He was standing above me, arms crossed over his chest and back straight. _Is this creature threatening me? _I put on the sweetest smile I could, my voice filled with honey.

"I just want something to eat. Is that so bad?" The sound of my voice sickened me. The creature simply shifted his arms a bit.

"**Yes. That is going against the wishes of the dominant side of Lily. I know that you are the vampire blood. Your eyes give away everything."**

"My eyes?" I asked innocently. "Are they red?"

"**They are not only red, but emotionless. Lily is not so cold."**

"Why the hell do you give a shit, beast?" I let my own personality take over, the sweetness wasn't helping me. "Do you care for her? I doubt she will care after today. I will feed and she will enjoy it. The bloodlust will take over, and she will finally know what it is to be half vampire. You have no say in the matter. I will make her a true Dhampyr." My voice filled the room with its force, almost tangible. I was sure that I would show the girl.

"**You will not feed against her will. I will not allow it. I have decided that she will have her choice, no matter the consequences. I will keep you in here until the day has passed. We have eighteen hours until midnight. You will stay in here." **The man vanished, leaving me in the room to pass the time. I switched between the girl and myself several times, just to torment her.

Lily's POV

I was the one in control when a quiet knock came from the door. I calmly invited the knocker in. I knew that it was Jeff both from the smell, and from the fact that if it were Slendy, he would have just appeared. Jeff was leaning into the room in the doorway with fresh bandages on. He had done something to cover his cuts better; I could only smell old, dry blood that wasn't strong enough to bother me. I grinned, showing him that it was me and not the other side. He smiled back carefully, making sure not to re open his cuts. He stepped into the room. I held my breath, worried that if I smelled his blood any more I would attack him.

"How you doing?" His question made me breathe to respond. I carefully inhaled, his scent burning my nose a bit and my throat screamed.

"Not so good. I can deal with it, as you can see, but it is very unpleasant." I tried to keep my voice calm.

"I'm sorry, I know it hurts. I wish I could make it better." Jeff walked over to me and hugged me, making my throat burn more. The action was out of character for him, but it was comforting.

"I only have two choices. One is to find someone to feed on, and you know the other." I pulled away from him, sitting back onto my bed. He sat down next to me, running his hands through his hair. I rubbed my throat a bit, as if it would make the pain better, but nothing happened.

"Well, I sure as hell don't like either. The first one is the one that lets you survive, but other people get hurt. The other is the one where no one gets hurt but you. I prefer the one where you stay with us." Jeff sounded a bit angry.

"I know, but I do not want to hurt anyone. I know that it is the only way to survive, but I refuse to hurt innocent people." I put as much force in my voice as possible, but it wasn't much. I could barely speak above a whisper.

Jeff grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me against him, my back barely touching his chest. "You don't need to feed on an innocent. You have other people you can take; people who aren't innocent." Jeff sighed as I struggled to get out of his grip without hurting him. "Like me, for instance."

"Wait, what did you just say?" My eyes widened and I stopped struggling. "Did you just say that I should feed on you? Hell no!" I pulled one of his arms away and went to get up, but he pulled me back as soon as I stood up, turning me to face him.

"Why not? It lets you stay alive but you won't have to feed on an innocent."

I stiffened a bit as Umbra took over just my voice. "Because I made a promise to the human side that you would remain unharmed." Jeff paled, if possible, and his eyes widened as much as they could with his burned eyelids.

"Yeah well, I'm the one who is starting this, and I'm the one who will finish it. I don't care if you made a promise, I would rather have you alive. The one person I met who could fight me off and even be kind enough to help me is about to die, and I want to be able to do something about it. So shut up and make a decision." He pointed a finger at me for effect.

"If that is the case, then I will not attempt to prevent anything that the human side does to you, be it harmful or not." She pulled away then, leaving me to decide.

"I have decided." My voice shook slightly a minute after, my decision was not the most pleasant, but I knew that I would go through with it anyway.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and, before he could fight back, sunk my fangs deep into his neck. I felt his warm blood running down my throat, easing the pain. I heard him gasp a bit in pain and loosened my jaws.

I eventually had enough and leaned back from him, wiping the blood from my mouth. I licked all of it off of my hand and looked back up at him.

Jeff's POV

I reached to wipe the blood from my neck, but none was there. I felt the ripped skin heal underneath my fingers. Lily's now crimson eyes lost the red color gradually, eventually turning blue.

"I never knew your eyes were blue." I laughed calmly, hoping that she didn't think she had hurt me and freak out.

"They are, but the red in my eyes made them purple. I guess that the colors mixed." She laughed a bit.

"Happy birthday." I laughed as well, patting her head.

"What time is it? I hope I wasn't too late, although, I feel as good as ever." She stretched her neck around me to look at her clock. "It's 11:58. You have perfect timing."

I pushed her off of me and went to get up. My vision went blurry and my legs stopped working, making me fall back onto the bed. I shook my head a bit, feeling a massive headache coming on.

"Are you alright?" I looked back up at the younger girl, who was looking at me with worried eyes. She grabbed my shoulder.

"I'm fine, just a bit dizzy," I reassured the girl as I went to stand up again. Lily pushed me back down to the bed as another wave of dizziness came over me.

"You are most definitely not fine, you are staying here for the night." Her words had a silent 'No Exceptions' tied to them. I felt a push in my mind, almost like I was being gently forced to do what the girl said.

"Yeah, right. You're telling me, the serial killer, to stay the same room as you, the crazy half vampire who just fed on me? No way." I looked up into her eyes, startled by the fact that they had turned a striking scarlet. Her voice was deeper, the same as it was when she told me she made a "promise."

"Lilium is not comfortable with you being weak as you are now. Therefore, I am not comfortable. While I am the stronger, I allow her dominance because otherwise I would quickly grow bored and most likely have others attempting to kill me. This makes her emotions the ones that rule our mindscape. Although, that is not the point. The point is that I will make sure that you are unharmed, or I will be the one at the mercy of her annoying promise bond."

I blinked. _What the hell is a promise bond? Is that something with vampires? _I pushed the thought out of my mind and nodded, slumping down onto the bed and crossing my arms over my chest. I watched the red recede from her eyes as she sat down on the chair across the room and closed her eyes.

_**Author note**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although it was actually pretty much filler and half assed filler at that. I had to find out how to get all of these particular elements into the characters and their relationship, so I wrote this. Anyway, Jeff is quickly becoming my favorite character to write their POV, but Umbra is definitely my favorite character. By the way, the meaning of the names of Lily's human side and vampire side are as follows. Umbra is shadow or darkness, commonly known as the darkest part in the center of a shadow where the least light reaches, and Filia is daughter. Lilium means Lily, because I am not creative with names as I am with characters, or so I have been told.**_

_**My hands are healing fairly well, but it still hurts very much. My microphone broke on my laptop so I cannot use speech recognition. I am currently having my niece type everything out for me, so the updates should be about once a week when she visits to check on me.**_


	14. Updating Update

_**Author Note**_

_**I am sorry for not updating in a while. My computer somehow got a virus, from where I know not because on this computer the only thing I do is write my stories and then post them on here. The entire system needed to be wiped and so I ended up having to completely reconfigure the entire thing and I somehow lost all of my documents. My niece is now out of school until college, in a year, and therefore will be visiting me more often to help type my stories. My small finger on the left hand is almost completely healed, but the rest are not faring so well.**_

_**The story of my injury is that I am, or was, moving into my new apartment, the first time not having anyone else living with me. My niece was helping me carry my television up the stairs, with her at the top of the staircase and me at about the middle. Somehow, her grip failed and the television, which weighs about 80 pounds, fell and pushed me down the stairs backwards, crushing my fingers underneath in the process. My doctor said I was lucky to not be further injured.**_

_**I will update as soon as physically possible.**_


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